events go today. remember those killed in benghazi in libya. we know the name sean smith. other man, chris stevens, held in very high regard from all of his colleagues. martha: tragic and violent death in benghazi. continuing coverage on all this on "happening now" starts right now. we'll see you here tomorrow. jenna: thank you, bill and martha. we start off with this fox news alert on the fallout on deadly attack on americans in the middle east. levens years to the day from 11. that is important as as we continue to explore the story i i'm jenna lee. jon: is the timing more than a coincidence? i'm jon scott. the white house ordered beefed up security at diplomatic posts around the world after an angry mob goes on a rampage in benghazi, libya. firing machines guns and rocket propelled grenades. it was outraged over an film

from by an american that insults the prophet muhammad. it killed the ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. stevens becomes the first ambassador killed in the line of duty in more than three decades. libya not the only scene of violence directed at americans. hours before equip -- egyptian rioters scaled the wall the embassy in cairo pulling down the american flag and replacing it with at black flag similar to the one used by al qaeda. president obama condemned all the violence moments ago. >> since our founding the united states has been a nation that respects all faiths. we reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others but there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence, none. the world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts. jon: so where does the story go from here. greg palkot is following for

it live from london. greg? >> reporter: we're getting more and more information about the tragic events in libya as the day goes on. first who was involved along with ambassador to libya, chris stevens. the information officer there in libya for the united states, sean smith. as well as two other americans. possibly security. not to be confirmed yet. still be identified. they were killed in or around the consulate in benghazi that happened overnight. stevens was a career diplomat. played a key role in the tumultuous period in libya. the type of diplomat we come time and time again. president clinton --. this was result of attack by islamists protesting this film made in the u.s., critical of the muslim prophet muhammad and it has been getting heavy play on the internet. the consulate was hit by rockets t was burnt down. u.s. and libyan force,

respond but as hit apparently the vehicle which the ambassador and others were trying to flea the scene. libyan officials have apologized. they say they're looking for those responsible. one group suspected right now with allegiance to al qaeda but there are many militant groups operating in the post-qaddafi libya scene right now as we have seen first-hand. u.s. is also investigating, president obama saying that justice will be done. that team of marines is set to go to the compound and secure it. this followed as you noted, jon, the riot and assault on the u.s. embassy yesterday in cairo. protesters there also angry about that film. we have been in contact today with staffers at the embassy. they say things are going along okay today but there is more security, as there is more security beefed up and tensions beefed up throughout the region. we're already getting word from u.s. embassies in tunisia as well as algeria, warning americans to be careful, to avoid any extra

travel in that area. we're already hearing about protests in the west bank. the danger far from passed. back to you, jon. jon: greg palkot joining us from london. thank you, greg. jenna: the danger far from passed. interesting statement. we're joined by lindsey graham, republican from south carolina. senator graham serves on the armed services committee. he was in libya this past december. he knew ambassador stevens well. your thoughts on the events over the last 24 hours? >> you said it well. america lost one of her best diplomats. chris loved libya. he loved his job. he loved his country. he went to the most dangerous places trying to build up democracies and to help those who want to help themselves. libya lost one of her best friend and allies. i can not tell you how important chris was during the war in libya and, my number one priority is to make sure those who are responsible for the killing of chris and his colleagues

are brought to justice. libyan government has said all the right thing about condemning this but we need action to make sure those who planned and perpetrated this attack are brought to justice. jenna: how do we do that? >> work with the libyans. the use our intelligence gathering capabilities and go after them jointly with the libyans. i'm hoping we will see an outpouring from the libyan government and the people themselves expressing their admiration for chris and those who were his colleagues. i think it would reassure america to understand that everybody in libya is not this way. the extremists in question are trying to break our will. they had a big election in libya and islamic extremists got defeated soundly. so what happened doesn't represent the libyan people or the movement that chris gave his life for. we're not going to disengage because of a bunch of thugs who kill wonderful people. jenna: senator graham, we just heard from the president. we also heard from secretary of state hillary clinton.

here's what she had to say this morning. >> this was an attack by a small and savage group, not the people or government of libya. the friendship between our countries born out of shared struggle will not be another casualty of this attack. jenna: senator, if we had such a great friendship with the libyan government then why did this happen? why did the government not step in and prevent this from taking place? >> well at the end of the day the compound, the outpost in benghazi was subject to attack. i don't know if this was a mob or preplanned attack but i do know having been to libya and listened to chris many times following the election that what happened doesn't represent the spirit of the libyan revolution or the people. i know that because i've been there and i know that chris understood that but there are people in our own country that do crazy things,

sometimes violent things. this film that everybody's talking about, well, you know, we have a free country. you can almost say and do anything but that film doesn't represent our government or the spirit of the american people and there is no excuse to take an innocent life. so at the end of the day we've got to keep focused on our strategic interests and that is to make sure libya, libya develops into a ally that under gadhafi it was the policy of the government to kill americans. this is an outrage and i think hilary is right. one thing i say from the obama administration, leading from behind is not helpful. we're not nearly as engaged helping support the arab spring as we should be. this whole effort to help develop the arab spring has little focus and i'm very disappointed into our foreign policy. jenna: we'll get into a little more. you mentioned this is small group in libya.

i want to get to that point and this film some have suggested is the inspiration for some of these mob attacks. it just down happen in libya but happened in egypt. there was a very big group that protested outside our embassy and breached our walls on the anniversary of 9/11. is this small up rising in libya or coordinated attack of some sort in multiple countries in the middle east? >> it could be a little of both. the extremists who want to drive us out of the region and destroy this effort at democracy are smart. they don't pick random days. i think you may be onto something. i think may be more coordinated than spontaneous. at the end of the day it does not represent the people of libya or egypt. jenna: okay. >> in this regard. they didn't go to the square to become an al qaeda state but there are elements in libya and egypt and tunisia and syria we must forcefully deal with and the it. >> is giving an uncertain

signal about our resolve to deal with these groups. the vacuum we're allowing to be created is to benefit of extremist groups we need to push back against. jenna: senator graham, on that point of policy i want to take a pause a moment. >> sure. jenna: this is not just happening. this is not just a story about egypt and syria. there are other things happening in the middle east in iran and israel. >> absolutely. jenna: leland vittert is standing by with a report from there. we'll be back to the senator in a moment after we hear from leland. up to this point the israeli embassy and egyptian embassy having these mobs, one of the big stories over the last 24 hours what was happening between the white house and prime minister netanyahu? tell us the latest. >> reporter: right now that is continuing this giant rift between the president and prime minister. want to show you front pages of all three major hebrew newspapers in israel. essentially the same headline, obama has no time

for prime minister netanyahu. the prime minister requested a meeting with president obama in the next couple weeks to discuss the iran nuclear issue, asking the president to set red lines where the united states would promise to attack iran. remember the last meeting between prime minister netanyahu and president obama was not, shall we say, very friendly. anywhere between cold and rather icy as the prime minister lectured president obama. that didn't go over so well and the president said repeatedly he is a very different view than the prime minister does over iran. and prime minister netanyahu over the past couple months has been ratcheting up the intensity on iran, saying essentially do something, america or we're going to attack. yesterday in a press briefing he said the world is asking us to wait, wait for what i ask? >> those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before iran, don't have a moral right to place a red light before israel.

>> reporter: last night there was a phone call between prime minister net-net,dnetanyahu and president obama to try to smooth things over. we don't know what was said in the call or if people are on more friendly terms. back to you. jenna: leland, thank you very much. back to senator graham. senator we have the big national stories in the middle east. where do we stand? what do we do next? >> what we do we change our policies towards israel and make it very clear we'll work with israel to develop red lines. quite frankly i share the prime minister's frustration. sanctions are not working. they're hurting the iranian economy but not stopping iranian behavior of acquiring a nuclear weapon. they have two goals in iran the ayatollahs. number one to get nuclear capability to protect the regime. they believe if they get a nuclear weapon the west will leave them alone. second to use the nuclear power to threaten their neighbors and spread shia influence. they will never change their

nuclear aspirations. sanctions and diplomacy is not working. we should have red lines coordinated with israel. they should believe that the iranians will get a massive airstrike that will come their way if they acquire nuclear weapons. it breaks my heart to see iraq fall apart. syria is a contagion affecting the entire middle east. this administration has no concept of the arab spring. they're disengaging on all fronts. the lack of leadership is about to lead to an explosion in the middle east and i hope people start focusing on foreign policy because it really does matter. jenna: you said the region is about to blow up . what do you mean about that specifically. >> about to explode. the american disengagement, lag of leadership, leading from behind is leading to uncertainty and doubt on all fronts. the sunnis, shias and the kurds that were working together well after the surge success have now gone back into their corners.

we've got a sort of a hands-off policy towards iraq. there have been no progress in filling ministries and having hydrocarbon law. every group, the sunni, shia and kurds are very disappointed with americans disengagement. allowing assad to murder his own people and have a detached view how syria is after faectsing the -- affecting the entire region is embodiening iran. how will the iranians be convinced we're serious about their nuclear program when we sit on the sidelines. turks are calling for a no-fly zone. the small group who did this doesn't represent the libyan people but america has to lead. there is no substitute for leadership by the united states and every group within the region is uncertain about who we are and what we believe and israel is paying the biggest price of all because our policies toward iran are

confusing and you can not allow russia and china to be able to veto the effort by people in the region to be free. they're dictatorships themselves. jenna: it is a big question for us today. what is american leadership, not only today but what is it in general for this next generation as we continue to watch the events unfold. senator graham, nice to have you today as always. thank you, sir. >> thank you. jon: we're getting brand new information on the deadly riots in libya where an angry mob murdered the u.s. ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. what we're now learning about the film that rioters claim sparked all of this violence. we're live with that story. and continuing coverage of the developing situation. also keeping an eye on the u.s. capitol building. they are about to lower the flag there at the to half-staff in honor of the late ambassador stevens, a man who was is widely regarded by both democrats and republicans on capitol hill. well-known to many of them as a career civil servant.

ambassador stevens, killed in libya. this country was built by working people. the economy needs manufacturing. mhines, tools, people making stuff. companies have to invest in making things. infrastructure, construction, production. we need it now more than ever. chevron's puttg more than $8 billion dollars back in the u.s. economy his year. in pipes, cement, steel, jobs, energy. we need to get the wheels turning. i'm proud of that. making real thin... for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪

jon: we mentioned it just before the break and just into fox news. we now learned that the flag has been lowered at the u.s. capitol building in honor of chris stevens, the ambassador to libya who lost his life yesterday. that symbol, our flag also desecrated in the attacks yesterday. libya's interim president is apologizing for what he describes as a cowardly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. rioters armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades launched at assault fueled by anger over an anti-islamic film shot in america that killed chris stevens and three members of his staff. the violence started earlier when the angry mob climbed the walls of the embassy in

cairo and tore down the american flag and replace i had it with a islamic banner. our chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington with that. >> reporter: good morning. thank you. what we know about the filmmaker comes from brief interview he gave with the associated press after the violence in u.s. consulate and cairo. self-identified as israeli jew, the filmmaker said, this is quote a political movie the u.s. lost a lot of money and a lot of people in wars in iraq and afghanistan but we're fighting with ideas the as we saw the demonstrations unfold in cairo the initial reporting say the catalyst was a 13 minute english language trailer for a film. while fox news has not viewed the film it reportedly depicts the prophet muhammad in a negative light including

allegations of fraud and sexual abuse. consulate in libya where the u.s. ambassador was killed along with three others. director sam bastille, telling ap quote, i feel the security system at embassies is no good. america should doing is to change it. short time ago the secretary of state saying no matter how inflammatory the material the attacks could not be legitimatized. >> some thought to justify this vicious behavior along with the protests that took place at our embassy in cairo yesterday as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet. america's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation but let me be clear, there is no justification for this. >> reporter: the question here is one of timing. former intelligence official telling fox that the attacks coming on the anniversary of

9/11 would suggest it was not the film alone that may have, sparked that violence, jon. jon: i know you've been in touch with some of your sources about what happened in libya as well as cairo. what are they they telling you? >> reporter: one of the questions i heard repeatedly raised whether the attack on the u.s. ambassador was a targeted attack. what has been pointed out to me the consulate in benghazi is less security if you will. he would have been more vulnerable than the embassy proper in tripoli. how was it that these individuals knew that the u.s. ambassador was at that consulate. we don't have those answers. that is something to watch as we learn more what happened there, jon. jon: your garden-variety of protesters don't generally have access to rocket-propelled grenades. catherine herridge in washington, thank you. >> reporter: you're welcome. jenna: a lot of questions next couple hours as we follow developments out of libya, egypt and the rest of the middle east. meantime back here at home the education of hundreds of thousands of children hang in the balance.

teachers in the nation's third largest school district on strike. there is an offer on the table. deal or no deal? whoo he have latest on that coming up. [shouting]

jon: right now union leaders consider a new offer from the chicago school board as teachers picket for a third straight day. rick folbaum has more from the breaking news desk. rick? >> reporter: jon, doesn't sound like much progress is being made in these talks. the head of chicago's teachers union said the sides have only moved centimeters when they're kilometers apart. a new proposal today but teachers getting support from a lot of parents inconvenienced by the strike don't seem ready to give this on much. >> we want what kids need. teachers want to be back in

schools educating kids. the teachers in this city are the salt of the earth. but they need the respect and dignity, even in tough economic times, when we're asking teachers to do more with less. they want kids,articularly poor kids, all across the city, to get a fair shake. and the city gets that. >> reporter: the teachers are upset with four main things. a plan to evaluate them based on student test scores. they also want more job security. they want better raises and benefits and they're angry about plans to make the school day longer. again talks continue today. we'll see how the union responds to the new proposal. we'll have a live report from chicago coming up in the next hour of "happening now." back to you. jon: looks like this thing could go on for a long time. >> reporter: certainly looks that way. jon: rick folbaum, thanks. jenna: the clock is ticking if the united states wants to maintain the triple a rating from moody's credit

rating. it is a credit ratings service. moody's isp a parently worried about political dysfunction as well as entitlement spending. sounds like two fairly big topics to be concerned about. liz macdonald from the fox business network has more for us now. liz? >> reporter: that's right, jenna. underlying moody's's warning that it may cut the aaa rating if the government does not get its fiscal house in order a demand of moody's for reform of medicare, social security and medicaid. moody's says quote, because of aging of population upward pressure on entitlement spending will gradually increase the size of government unless there is significant reform of entitlement programs. but while the croat raiding agency says reforming medicare, medicaid and social security would, quote, add stability to the government's finances, it does say doing so will be quote, difficult that is because half of the country derives some type of income

in the form after government check. that could mean moody's may likely downgrade the u.s. aaa credit rating possibly as early as next year if there is no reform to government spending and entitlement reform. jenna, jon, back to you. jenna: if they did that what would happen? >> reporter: if they did that you would see the markets selloff when s&p downgraded the u.s. in 2011. then there would be a rebound. we're not seeing pressure on the 10-year treasury note trending down to 1.69%, the yield on that note, jenna. back to you. jenna: something that could be interesting as we get into the election. elizabeth, thank you. >> reporter: sure. jon: continuing our coverage of the brutal murder of the u.s. ambassador in libya happening as part of a mob attack against americans in the middle east. could it be reshaping the race for the white house has governor romney goes after the obama administration for its initial response? >> it is also person for me, just as it was for the white house last night by the way, to say that the statements were inappropriate and in my, in my view a disgraceful

statement on the part of our administration to apologize for american values.

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[ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. jenna: welcome back. a fox news alert and a war of words unfolding here at home over the deadly mob attack against americans in libya and in egypt. president obama speaking out just moments ago. take a listen. >> the united states condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and

shocking attack. we're working with the government of libya to secure our diplomats. i also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. make no mistake. we will work with the libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people. jenna: well this comes after governor romney criticized the administration's early response to the attacks on the u.s. diplomatic missions in the middle east. and republican presidential nominee did not back down from his criticism again today. >> it is never too early for the united states government to condemn attacks on americans and to defend our values. the white house distanced itself last night from the statement saying it wasn't cleared by washington, and that reflects the mixed signals they're sending to the world. jenna: a lot already happened this morning. it is not even noon eastern time yet. white house correspondent ed henry is live for us now. >> reporter: jenna, good to

see you. what all this started with the fact that the u.s. embassy in cairo in that first incident in egypt denounced this anti-muslim film. it sounded like they were apologizing for the film and not denouncing the protesters who called the walls of the u.s. embassy there initially. that is what governor romney was responding to last night in a written statement. now the obama campaign in chicago denounced that. said governor romney was politicizing all of this to start things off and was suggesting that the embassy in cairo was only reacting in an attempt to sort of quell the violence and that it was not a statement that was put out originally by the embassy after the actual violence. but in fact if you look at twitter, there were tweets put out by the embassy saying they stood behind the statement even after the violence had occurred there in cairo. that is why governor romney as you say a short time ago did not back down and suggested that the administration here had apologized instead of denouncing the violence.

take a listen to the governor. >> the white house distanced itself last night from the statement saying it wasn't cleared by washington. that reflects the mixed signals they're sending to the world. the attacks in libya and egypt underscore that the world remains a dangerous place and that american leadership is still sorely needed. >> now this morning secretary of state hillary clinton made clear that there's no apology for the anti-muslim film. she said there was nothing that justifies the kind of violence that happened both in cairo and then moving forward to the violence in libya that resulted in these tranlic deaths. after that the president came out in the rose garden. he didn't address any politics back and forthwith with governor romney but he insisted justice here would be done. take a listen. >> no acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values we stand for. today we mourn for more

americans who represent the very best of the united states of america. we will not waiver in our commitment to see justice is done for this terrible act and make no mistake, justice will be done. >> reporter: i was in the rose garden the president said that several times in terms of justice will be done. he did not take questions from reporters so we could not press him to spell out what kind of justice will be done? will there be any sort of military action. i shouted to him, was this an act of war? he did not answer that question or other questions reporters shouted. >> we'll see if we can get answers what is next with regards to libya. what about egypt? did the president make mention of what happened in egypt since we're hearing so much from the romney campaign on that specific issue? >> the romney campaign clearly tying all this together as a regional issue. the president focused his comments instead on libya. i heard what republican senator lindsey graham was telling you a few moments

ago. he clearly feels all of this is the same piece and should be addressed at as one, at one point telling you that he thinks the middle east is about to explode. strong words from senator graham. he charged a lack of leadership inside the white house. they sharply disagree with that assessment. jenna: we're asking what is ahead. big questions we're asking today. ed, thank you very much. jon: all this comes on the heels of the obama campaign going after governor romney on foreign policy and national security. the president's advisors and some other prominent democrats have been criticizing mr. romney's convention speech for not mentioning our troops serving in iraq and afghanistan. senator john kerry, who was hit hard on national security when he ran against john mccain saying quote, it is not fair to say mitt romney doesn't have a position on afghanistan. he has every position. he was against setting a date for withdrawal. then he said it was right. then he left the impression maybe it was wrong to leave this soon. talk about being for it

before he was against it. a play on some words that he spoke that got him pretty well hammered during the campaign. joining us now, juan williams, fox news political analyst. and mary katharine ham, editor-at-large of hotair.com and also a fox news contributor. first of all we want to make clear at the outset, we all know that there is the death of an american ambassador and three other embassy personnel at the center of all this but, juan, is it possible in this political season when you're talking about you know the prestige and the influence of the united states abroad for the reaction to all of this not to become a political issue? >> well, in terms of the deaths, john, i think every american, i don't think your political stripe much matters here, regrets an american ambassador would be killed in this situation. after all the united states did to help liberate libya

from qaddafi. i don't think anybody disagrees with that. as for the politics of it, that's why people thought maybe mitt romney was a little quick to inject politics into the situation especially with regard to what had happened in egypt yesterday but overall, i think people want a sense of strength coming from the white house, not weakness, not apology and i think from romney there is the fear that he would be too bellicose or too political and could be accused of, you know, trying to beat the drums of war a little bit prematurely. jon: well, mary katherine what about that, the criticism of governor romney for having come out too quickly? >> first of ail as juan said, like a heart-breaking madding loss for americans of all stripes on a day that already is so heart-breaking for everyone. my prayers are with everybody who lost someone yesterday. mitt romney has a fine line

to walk. it should be stated the statement he put out last night about the cairo embassy truly appalling statements somehow sort of said, well this anti-islam movie, we are apologizing for that, and for americans sort of exercising their first amendment rights, putting that statement out was pretty appalling. he responded to that before we had her anything about anybody being killed in benghazi. and i believe that is the timeline. so i think that was actually a pretty important statement to make. i think the governor sees an area here. obama did not mention free speech in his discussion although his speech was very nice. i think he see as vacuum here to sort of endorse that and say look, it is not the fault of americans or anyone else for expressing their, exercising their first amendment rights that people are going crazy and killing people. think that is an important thing to state. jon: so viewers know what we're talking about here, i want to read at least one of the statement that was put out via twitter by the u.s. embassy in cairo. it says, the embassy of the

united states in cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of muslims. as we condemn efforts to offend efforts of believers of all religions. today the 11th anniversary of the september 11, 2001, terror attacks, americans are honoring our patriots and a fitting representative of our democracy. respecting religious beliefs is cornerstone of democracy. we reject the actions of those who abuse the rights of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others. that is the statement put out by the state department, an arm of the administration. that is what governor romney criticized saying look, our embassies are under attack. turns out later four of our people were killed. the united states is apologizing. juan, was that inappropriate? >> well i don't, first of all, i think the death took

place later. so at the time what you had was the embassy in libya under attack and an affirmation of our principles, which is that we're a country that respects all religions and want to make it clear that a minister burning the koran in florida, it may be in keeping with our free speech ideals but we don't as an american government embrace that. the american government, the american people didn't embrace that. we want to make it very clear. we're not about trying to insult anybody and we get upset when muslims say nasty things or attack christians. we, as an american people are tolerant of religious differences. so i think that is what they were trying to say. they were trying to calm water,s in a diplomatic statement, jon. they weren't apologizing for anything. jon: we'll have to leave it there. >> if it weren't inappropriate the white house wouldn't have backed off it. they know it was inappropriate. they tried to pull it back. they deleted tweets and

cairo embassy said they stand by it there is lot of confusion and idea of the government admonishing people for abusing freedom of speech is a bad precedent to set. that is what he is speaking out. jon: there was a lot of chaos and the timeline is important here. awful lot of confusion. it ends with the death of an ambassador and three others. really an awful situation. juan williams, mary katharine ham. thank you both. >> thank you, jon. jenna: back to a little politics here. democrats in congress may have a new strategy, going after the republican presidential ticket by attacking the vice-presidential candidate who is currently a congressman paul ryan. what is that all about? what is the strategy. we'll dig a little deeper into that. continuing coverage of the killing, assassination, really, let's face it of the ambassador in libya, murdered by rioters outside the embassy there. we're live at the state department and the pentagon with the very latest. that is just ahead here on fox news.

jon: democrats in congress taking potshots at republican vice-presidential nominee paul ryan. the senate majority leader getting in a dig talking about judicial nominations jabbing congressman ryan a mistake recalling marathon time from more than 20 years ago. >> senator toomey the week we went out gave a speech the reason we don't have two republican judges in pennsylvania because i'm holding them up. i'm holding them up. i mean you talk about jiggling your marathon time, that is right up there with that. jon: susan ferechio congressional correspondent at the "washington examiner". just doesn't seem like relationships between the two parties on capitol hill are getting any better, susan. >> this time of year you can expect that. we're getting ready to leave for another, month or so to

campaign for the november elections. so both sides it is all about partisanship. paul ryan is the perfect target for democrats right now because he has got the paul ryan budget which democrats have been assailing for months. just a few minutes ago the fund-raising arm of the democrats put out a press release said look, polls are showing people are showing a preference for democratic candidates generically because of paul ryan budget. they're making the case and making him the target. whether or not it will be successful really is unclear at this point. he is all they have got at this point because in the house anyway, democrats are not going to regain control. that is pretty clear. the democrats are just holding on for dear life because there is really good chance they will lose control of the senate to republicans. so they need someone to attack and paul ryan is the perfect target. jon: well, it is interesting because harry reid's senate hasn't passed a budget in what three years? >> and as people have been saying on your program all morning, this is an election

about leadership. everyone is talking about leadership when it comes to foreign policy. leadership when it comes to domestic policy is equally important. i think paul ryan and mitt romney have been make the case they have a leadership strategy even more so than democrats. the budget issue is a big part of that. they put forward the fact that democrats have not done a budget in three years when. it comes to medicare where democrats are picking on paul ryan saying his plan is going to destroy medicare as we know it, the romney campaign and said, medicare is going away if we do nothing to fix it. we're taking the leadership role of reforming it because the democrats won't. jon: so what, what kind of work is going to get done on capitol hill between now and november 6th? anything? >> well, this week very important piece of legislation is going to move forward and it is going to keep the federal government running for a few more months. right now the budget for the fiscal year ends on september 30th. so if nothing is put in

place then the government simply can't function. we need a new budget. so congress will move ahead with a budget, kind of keeps things as is. sort of punts the issue until after the election when politics aren't so heavy on capitol hill and they can work out a real budget plan for the following fiscal year. jon: yeah. >> this happened year after year after year where politics taken over capitol hill to the point where all they're doing is punting and punting and punting. that is certainly the case this week on capitol hill. jon: then there is that fiscal cliff in the distance. we'll talk about that another time. >> that is huge issue too. jon: from the "washington examiner". thank you. jenna: the president vowing justice will be done after the consulate attack in libya that killed america's ambassador there and three members of his staff. we have the latest on this developing story, all with those details coming up for you. also he helped expose thousands of suspected tax cheats and now a whistle-blower is reaping the reward today.

the largest-ever reward paid by the irs. here's the catch. he spent years in presson for his role in the scandal. a live report straight ahead. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

jenna: a record reward today for the whistle-blower credited with helping to expose thousands of suspected u.s. tax cheats. this former banker is receiving $104 million, the most ever awarded by the irs. he also spent years behind bars for his role in the banking scandal. david lee miller is live with the latest. how do those things work together, david lee? >> reporter: it is interesting. i will get to that in one second. let's start with this, jenna, the whistle-blower, bradley bjerken failed -- bjerken

felled, can buy a gold whistle. he received $104 million on how his former employer, ubs helped americans hide money to evade taxes. ubs paid $780 million in fines and gave up the names of more than 4,000 u.s. tax cheats of the the irs awarded him 104 million based on u.s. law that permits a reward up to 30% of the money he helped the government collect. his lawyer issued a statement saying and i quote, the irs today sent 104 million messages to whistle-blowers around the world, that there is safe and secure way to reward tax -- report tax fraud. and that the irs now paying awards. they september a statement around the world saying stop enabling tax cheats or you will get caught. he spent two years in prison for concealing information

from investigators. he was released from prison but must remain in home confinement until november. he is greatful for the money and use some of it for humanitarian causes. yes, he has to pay regular income tax on that $104 million. jenna: is that our money, that taxpayer money, $10 million of award money? >> reporter: that is government money. presumably it is taxpayer money but the government might take the position we wouldn't have that money to pay him if he hadn't been a whistle employer here and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and other monies received from ubs as a consequence of what he told prosecutors. jenna: wow! you can do --. >> reporter: he ultimately made the government money here and ultimately made himself $104 million. they also say, jenna, as a consequence of what he did he actually generated billions of dollars here because of other banks and other taxpayers who came forward when amnesty was offered. >> i'm thinking when you get

out of prison and able to be at home for a couple weeks before you get out, a lot of online shopping you can do with the extra money he had even though at home confinement. david lee, interesting story for us today. thank you. >> reporter: thanks. jon: there is breaking news on the violence against americans in the middle east. the latest from the white house, the pentagon and overseas coming up [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?

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jenna: a big response to the deadly vie hreps i violence in libya strongly condemning the murder of ambassador chris stevens and his staff. what is next is the big question we are asking on "happening now." i'm jenna lee? i'm jon scott. president obama saying there is no justification for yesterday's deadly attack. a blood thirst remob storming the u.s. consulate leaving four americans there dead. secretary of state hillary

clinton called it a senseless act of violence. now a warning of more protests. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon for us now. the marines have been ordered to libya. what will they be doing and how many? >> reporter: let me put it into context. immediately a request for a fast team was put out, that is about 50 marines who were spent from spain from the naval base in spain, they are en route to libya. our understanding is they will first land in the capitol of tripoli, then a decision will be made as to where to deploy them. are they going to go down to the consulate in benghazi to secure that building, or do they need them to secure the embassy in tripoli? that decision has not been made yet. 50 marines are en route to libya and will be on standby pending further orders. a request from the state department has been put out for

at least one air force plane to possibly help with the return home of those who were injured and killed in the attack on the consulate in benghazi. again, that decision, and the decision about how many planes and where to send them, and how to go about that, that is still pending, but that request went to the pentagon this morning, and some of these details are still being hammered out, jon. jon: is there additional security being ordered for our other embassies around the world? >> reporter: right now the military has not been asked to send any additional assets to any of the other embassies in the region. as you know there were warnings put out by the state department in algeria, also in kuwait about a planned protest warning americans to be careful at the embassy in kuwait today. there is a planned protest by the muslim brotherhood in egypt

slated for friday, that protest we're told is about this film that seems to have sparked all of this. this is the film that was made by and it has been promoted by this -- it's an american director in california, and then the reverend terry jones who has been involved in anti-islamic protests in the past. there also are concerns for u.s. troops in afghanistan, the afghan government shut down the youtube site to keep that film, the innocence of islam, off the internet because of fears of inflaming tensions in afghanistan, where of course 68,000-plus u.s. troops are still serving, jon. jon: what a mess. jennifer griffin at the pentagon. thank you. jenna: those photos and images from the embassy in libya are just startling and we're learning more about ambassador christopher stevens, he's a california native serving as u.s. ambassador to libya since may of this year. just within the last hour you saw this on our show the flag at the capitol was lowered to half

staff to honor ambassador stevens and other americans who were murdered in those brutal attacks. chief washington correspondent james rosen has more for us now. >> reporter: the libyan doctor who rushed ambassador stevens to a hospital and worked for 90 minutes to revive him says he died from smoke inhalation. at the height of the arab spring last year secretary of state hillary clinton asked stevens who had previously served in libya to become america's envoy to the opposition there. he arrived on a cargo ship in the court of benghazi the city where he eventually died and immediately began assessing and building bridges to the various factions of rebels who with allied aid toppled gaddafi from power. he starred in a short video in which he spoke of his excitement at returning to tripoli and to the origins of his passion for this region. >> growing up in california i didn't know much about the arab

world, then after graduating from the university of california at berkeley i traveled to north africa as a peace corps volunteer. i worked as an english teacher in a town in the high mountains in morocco for two years and quickly grew to love this part of the world. since joining the foreign service i've spent almost my entire career in the middle east and north africa. >> reporter: stevens also served for a time as a peers fellow on the senate foreign relations committee. a ranking member told us this morning that he was a brilliant scholar and a wonderful personality. >> the foreign service, that was his life, and seeing him before the committee as our nominee for ambassador to libya just a short

while ago, i've been really struck by this terrible news. >> shaun smith the american information officer also killed in this attack in libya it was a ten-year veteran of the state department, a married father of two served in baghdad and south africa among other postings. jenna: we are waiting for the identity of the other two as well. jon: the attacks in egypt and libya a cruel twist in light of america's support for the arab spring. the obama administration calling the attacks shocking and outrageous. in some quarters folks are saying it should come as no surprise. let's talk about it with charlie hurt a columnist for the washington times. those of us old enough to remember what happened in teheran in 1979 see a lot of similarities. >> it is incredible. it's good to hear the obama administration come out and unequivocally condemn the violence and actions ever the people outside of the walls of

the embassy, because yesterday when the mobs were gathering in cairo around the embassy the embassy actually issued a statement saying that, not condemning the people gathering around and threatening violence against the people in the egyptian embassy, or american embassy in egypt, they condemned those who would abuse free speech, the right to free speech, which is just mind boggling to me. i don't know how you abuse the right to free speech. you either have free speech or you don't have free speech. i guess if you yell fire in a crowded movie theater that is abusing the right to free speech and that is illegal. for the embassy to issue a statement equivocating our belief in the right to free speech in the face of a mob gathered outside the walls of the embassy suggests a serious kind of loss of direction in our state department over there. jon: but it's also true that when you're surrounded by a mob like that you don't necessarily take the course of action that

you would take in a normal circumstance, i mean for selfprotection they may have put that statement out there. >> sure, but i mean if america is going to stand for something in these parts of the world you would think that we would stand for freedom of speech, and be a beacon to those people who live in that sort of terror, and sort of display to them that the way you face this sort of terror is through freedom not through, you know, fear and not through sort of acquiescing to people who would -- who are the opposite of believing in free speech. they believe in committing violence, they believe in driving loaded planes into tall buildings in order to condemn somebody that they don't even know for some beliefs that they haven't even heard directly, they just kind of heard that somebody over here thinks this. and it shows a tremendous weakness on the part of the united states, and i think that that honestly comes from the top

down, you know, president obama when he went to cairo i guess it was three years ago in his first address to the muslim nation, you know, he applauded egypt for inventing the pen but didn't condemn them for the fact that they put people in jail for actually oohing the pen. he apologized for the twisted view of sex and the violence on the inch certificat the internet? and i'm thinking, my goodness what about the twisted view of sex in the way egypt treats its women and gays. jon: charlie hurt from the washington times. thank you. >> thanks, jon. jenna: developments overseas really taking center stage in the presidential race. governor romney in the campaign trail in the swing state of florida today. a short while ago he had this to say about the american deaths in libya. >> this attack on american individuals and embassies is outrageous, it's disgusting, it

breaks the hearts of all of us who think of these people who have served during their lives, the cause of freedom and justice and honor. we mourn their loss. jenna: chief political correspondent carl cameron is live in jacksonville, florida with more for us now. hi, carl. >> reporter: good afternoon, mitt romney this morning both grieving and morning the loss of american officials overseas and criticizing the obama administration for its handling of all of this. last night mr. romney read a statement from the u.s. embassy in cairo,egypt in which they had said that the u.s. does not support the type of movie trailer that the extremists say sparked their attacks on u.s. missions and other places across the country. when mr. romney saw that initial response from the u.s. embassy in cairo he was quite critical and said that now is not the time to be apologizing. there has been kreu criticism overnight of him for having got even in too soon and sort of stuck his foot in his mouth and

pulled the trigger on criticism politically in the case of an international crisis unfolding. he said the statement from the u.s. embassy in cairo was taken off the web by the white house. the the administration said at one point it didn't reflect the u.s. position in all of this. this morning romney took another bite at the apple watch. >> possibly the administration was wrong to standby a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in egypt instead of condemning their actions. it's never too early for the united states government to condemn attacks on americans and to defend our values. the white house distance edit selflast night from the statement saying it wasn't cleared by washington. and that reflects the mixed signals they are sending to the world. >> one thing romney says is not a mixed signal, he's been very critical of the obama administration for two often apologizing for u.s. values, principles and policies overseas. he's accused the president of

going on international policy tours. one thing he said that the u.s. should be willing to project its convictions, its courage and its principles around the world and be far more fearless in doing so. jenna: we'll continue to watch this as this develops. 55 days until the election, carl, thank you. jon: a major showdown playing out in america's third largest school district. hundreds of thousands of children still not in class. is there any end in sight to this teacher's strike? we are live in chicago with the latest there. jenna: certainly all eyes on the middle east today including four american dip plea matter including a u.s. ambassador are murdered by an angry mob. does this threaten to really upset our policy in the entire region? we'll talk more about that. brand-new reaction in just three minutes. woman 1: this isn't just another election. we're voting for...

the future of our medicare and social security. man 1: i want facts. straight talk. tell me your plan... and what it means for me. woman 2: i'm tired of the negative ads and political spin. that won't help me decide. man 2: i earned my medicare and social security. and i deserve some answers. anncr: where do the candidates stand on issues that... affe seniors today and in the future? find out with the aarp voters' guide at earnedasay.org jenna: libya's new president issuing an apology for

yesterday's outrageous attack on the u.s. consulate there offering condolances for the death of four americans, including the u.s. ambassador and vowing to bring the culprits to justice. robin wright is a distinguished scholar at the woodrow wilson international center and the he editor of a new book, islamists are coming who they really are, that is the title of the book. our condolences, i know that you were friends with ambassador stevens for more than 25 years. our hearts go out to you and his family. really a loss for the entire country. >> it's a loss for the united states because he was such a caring diplomat he knew the streets as well as the elites. he spoke the language, understood the culture. he also appreciated this extraordinary transition across the middle east and what was involved in trying to help stabilize it and change relations that had been hostile in the case of libya for 40 years. he's a loss to the libyan people as well. jenna: we'll talk a little bit about libya here, then i want to talk to you about egypt, because

we see these two events happening at embassies in both of these countries. first to libya, though, we hear about this call for justice, from our ohno figureses, for the libyan officials. how do you interpret that? what does that really mean and what should be done to be constructive? >> this is the test for the new rule of law in libya. the challenge will be finding those responsible, putting them on trial and producing a kind of just response to this travesty in way that is rational and is within the parameters of a new constitution, a new system to show that libya is capable of being a democracy and a just society. jenna: and so, what are the stakes there? >> the stakes are huge, because the united states has been trying to play a role in stabilizing libya to deal with issues of disarming the militias, helping finding employment, creating an economy that could absorb its people and

address the injustices of the past. of course this will be jeopardized because foreign investors will be dubious about going in if there are basic security issues, if the united states embassy as diplomatic outposts are under treat. jenna: there was a big business conference taking place in egypt trying to increase investment in egypt. you have a new protest happening in cairo yesterday. what is your take? we talked to you a lot about egypt, with the new government, the transition, what is your take of what happened there yesterday? >> there are a group of ultraconservatives who have emerged and redefined the political spectrum in egypt. they want to take society in the 21 century back to the way of life in the 7th century. and they were offended by this video clip showing obscene acts, or in appropriate acts, and this was very offensive to them, so

they mobilized a protest. now one of the things we should understand that this does not reflect the majority of the egyptian people any more than what happened in libya showed libyan sentiment. we are talking about in a country of 85 million people, 2,000 people showed up at the embassy. it happened on 9/11. it was a reminder of what happened in 1979, and it is haunting lee eery and cast a very negative spell on what the u.s. is able t to do in egypt next. jenna: to try in bring in broader perspective here the last couple of months we've seen our secretary of state in egypt, protestors throwing things at her while she's there. we see the leader of the muslim brotherhood go to teheran and visit iran for the first time since 1979, then we see this happen. we have a billion dollars of aid going to this country. what do you think about that? is this something that congress

should take up when it comes to policy? how should we approach this and just the context overall for which this took place? >> jenna, the $1.3 billion in aid could egypt goes for the military. when it comes to development it's comparatively small, 250 million, although the u.s. is working on other ways to help stabilize the egyptian economy. let's also remember that theee skwreups president wenthatthe egyptian president went to iran, he's worked closely with the israelis to stabilize the sinai and the muslim brotherhood was not involved in these protests. we need to understand that there are different types of islamist groups in the middle east. we can't lump them all together. you know the muslim brotherhood was not in the streets outside the american embassy, it was a group of ultraconservatives, extremists, radicals who oppose the u.s. presence and are sensitive about this sill many

thafilm that unfortunately. jenna: have you seen a statement from the muslim brotherhood condemning this protest? >> i've been doing shows in morning and i haven't seen everything that has come out of egypt. clearly the egyptian government needs to do more both in providing security to the american embassy and getting out in a way the libyan government has in condemning this act with deep regret and credibility. jenna: we haven't seen one as well, that's why i mention it. robin, thank you for the prospectives today, we always appreciate your expertise. thank you very much. >> thank you. jon: we are keeping a close eye on the developments in the middle east. in the battle over the sunshine state and it's prized 29 electoral votes, where the candidates stand and who has the advantage?

jon: inside america's election headquarters right now governor mitt romney is in florida making his third trip to jacksonville in the last month. he is splitting florida duty with his wife ann who is holding her own ralee in largo to the south. former president bill clinton is in orlando campaigning for president obama who was in the sunshine state over the weekend. let's take a look at florida. it is perhaps the biggest prize of all of the swing states and the florida economy is issue number one, as it is across much of the country. the unemployment rate 81.8%. a full half poin818.8%, the foreclosure rate about twice as bad as it is in the rest of the country, one in every 352

housing units received a foreclosure flying in july. nationally one in every 836. the price of gas pretty important, $3.79 a gallon. each candidate is taking it very seriously. president obama has made six visits there. governor romney six visits as well during this campaign season. take a look at the presidential race polls according to the "real clear politics" average 48.3% for the president, 46.3% for governor romney. 29 electoral votes are up for grabs. let's talk about it with the tallahassee bureau chief for the tampa bay times. the polls are close according to the "real clear politics" average, steve. what is the trend? >> the trend is it's a big toss up race, it's basically a tie, jon, but the polls do show the president with this narrow

advantage in these last few weeks. what you're seeing there, i think, are a number of things, but florida has a large and growing hispanic population. you've got to give a big edge to president obama there. romney does better with male voter, white men particularly. it's no coincidence that ann romney and former president bill clinton are both in the center of the state today because that is the real battleground in florida generally is the i4 corridor between orlando and tampa. jon: it's interesting to me, clinton made -- i guess gave a speech at florida international university, and a number of the students who were there barely remember his presidency. >> that is interesting . he's in orlando today. he is still a major calling card for super voters, democrats who get out in vote, particularly the elderly, and with college students. the thing about florida, jon, is it's a true microcosm of the

entire country. there is a little bit of everything. there is a lot of everything, college students, hispanic. there is a huge military and retired military population in florida too. jon: okay you mentioned retired population you didn't really mention the seniors specifically, medicare is a huge issue, paul ryan brought on board in part because of his expertise on medicare, is it helping or hurting the romney campaign? because you know the president's campaign has made a big deal out of paul ryan and his budget, and essential tee are sayin andee sepbgs essentially saying this is the guy who is going to wreck medicare for you seniors. >> i don't think the romney-ryan campaign has made the sale on the changes to medicare. people at the top feel a tremendous amount of economic insecurity. they may be less receptive to talk about remaking medicare. paul ryan was very well received at the villages in central

florida, again i-4 corridor. it is a little bit young err and a lot more after fluent than many of your retirement places in florida. i will be watching palm beach county. baltimore peach county leans democratic and has a big elderly population. >> steve in tallahassee. it's good to have you on. we'll check back in with you before the election. jenna: kids in america's third largest city are not in the last courtroom today. for a third day in a row their teachers are on the picket lines with a labor standoff. where that stands we have a live report ahead. we've heard from the president and governor romney on the disturbing news out of the mideast, four american diplomats, including the u.s. ambassador killed by angry mobs in libya. what the u.s. says next. we are live at the state department ahead. >> i've also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts

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this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. until i got a job in the big apple. becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasn't easy for atti. but he had purina cat chow indoor. he absolutely loved it. and i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. and after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home! [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. and for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight. jon: secretary of state hillary clinton making a strong statement earlier today just before president obama's remarks. both of them condemning yesterday's deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. wendell goler is our senior

white house foreign affairs correspondent. he is live at the state department for us now. wendell? >> reporter: jon, secretary clinton said ambassador chris stevens risked his life trying to stop the tyrant moammar gadhafi and gave his life trying to build a better libya. she rejected the attempt by some libyan officials blaming internet video against the prophet muhammad. she said that was no way to justify violence or honor a relidge jith faith. stevens and three others went to the us embassy or consulate to protect or evacuate american and libyan workers when they were killed by a mob armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades. it appears they were attacked outside the consulate. embassy security is the responsibility of the host country but secretary clinton made it clear that she doesn't consider the incident of a reflection of u.s.-libyan relations. >> this was an attack by a small and savage group, not

the people or government of libya. everywhere chris and his team went in libya, in a country scarred by war and tyranny, they were hailed as friends and partners. and when the attack came yesterday, libyans stood and fought to defend our post. some were wounded. >> reporter: stevens was 52. he had spent 20 years in the middle east and north africa. spoke arabic and french and was both devoted to and expert on the people of libya. he knew the tribes and their rivalries of the president obama addressed workers here at the state department. ambassador stevens was the first american killed in the line of duty in, first american ambassador killed the in the line of duty in 3 years. aides say mr. obama wanted to show his solidarity with the diplomatic community and

the sacrifices they make. the president sent a team from spain to benghazi to beef up security there. he also beefed up security at other u.s. installations around the world. he says those responsible for the violence in benghazi will be brought to justice. officials here say libyans are working with u.s. authorities on that. jon? jon: wendell goler at the state department for us today. thanks, wendell. jenna: from washington, d.c. we take you out to chicago. for the third day the strikes there. the thousands of parents scrambling for an alternative to the day care they got when their kids were in school. teachers are taking to the picket lines instead of to the classroom. steve brown live in chicago with more. steve? >> reporter: yeah, jenna, the indications we're getting from negotiation sessions, there is another one ongoing as we speak, that progress is not good. karen lewis, the chicago teachers union president described the progress at the bargaining table as millimeters while the two sides are kilometers apart.

there are kids in chicago schools, just not in class. they're working to watch these kids, for their parents, but the days are short. running only until noon. announcement comes out from the mayor's office they will keep some of the schools open until at least 2:30. >> it was a strike of choice and wrong choice for our children. i just saw the children. while i thank the principals here and opening school being part of the 144 i went down and also thanked the staff that are feeding them. >> reporter: striking teachers may also get some company out on the picket line soon. by friday, possibly, by union school janitors. >> many of our members reached out and said they would like to honor the picket lines. we have 48 hour notice in our contracts. today we sent the 48 hour notice to our contractors, saying on friday there very

well may be local 1 members, janitors, who will stand outside and support the teachers instead of go to work. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: that is an individual decision that the janitors can make. they have given 48 hours notice and can join the striking teachers on the picket line. that is on friday. looks like both sides are preparing for this to go longer. the city keeping schools open longer. janitors preparing to join the strike lines. back to you, jenna. jenna: steve, thank you. jon: right now the strike in chicago is a major test for organized labor and for democratic mayor rahm emanuel. he is also a former white house chief of staff for president obama. the standoff includes scenes of thousands of teachers massing in protest and empty classrooms sitting there, drawing comparisons to another high-profile labor fight, the one next door in neighboring wisconsin in 2011. that between republican governor scott walker and the public employee unions there.

the battle in the badger state did not end well for organized labor. teachers and their allies losing most of their collective bargaining rights. later they failed to give walker the boot in a recall election. andrea kaufman is a education professor at depaul university and something of an expert in educational issues. we invited her on to talk about some of the differences here. in chicago these teachers are out on strike. obviously hundreds of thousands of kids casting about with nothing to do. parents are left wondering how to handle day-care especially for the younger ones. this is the kind of thing that couldn't happen in wisconsin right now because of the new law, right? >> you know, i think that is true. it couldn't happen in wisconsin but i also think there is a history in chicago of working well with the union. i mean under our former leader of chicago schools and our former union president there was a good,

constructive working relationship. jon: so why this strike? what happened? >> you know, i think there are a couple of factors. i definitely think both our mayor and our union president have big personalities and this is become personal and i think we need a more collaborative approach. i also think around the country there's been a kind of perception that public sector unions aren't meeting the interests of taxpayers but i think while there needs to be change and sometimes unions are slow to change, i think there has been a kind of vilification. jon: well, you know, we've been looking at the statistics. when the average teacher in chicago earns 50% more than the average worker in chicago, that would seem to, you know, bring out some of the disparity that would lead to people wondering whether they really deserve to be on strike. >> you know, i think, you know, salary is definitely an issue but i think there are a lot of issues about

the structure of school and i do think on both sides i think they have come together with a lot of the issues and i do think there just needs to be, you know, less sort of rhetoric from both sides and kind of a more constructive approach. jon: well, you know the mayor has a $700 million problem, budget hole to fill in the education department. you've got, i don't know, i can't think of anybody i know in the private sector who in this economy hasn't had to tighten their belts somewhat, you know, get rid of luxuries. do this, take a second job, whatever. it would seem like there is precedent for what they are asking of the teachers to con attribute more to their health care costs for instance? >> i think you make some very good points. i mean resources are sparse and we kind of have to all sort of tighten our belts and work together. i do think it's not about the what or the particulars

but about the sort of style of trying to work this out collaboratively. so i definitely, my students are full-time teachers. i teach a conflict resolution class and a lot of them came to my class after the picket line and they were talking more about respect and trust and understanding than the issues. jon: well maybe you should -- >> i think --. jon: maybe you should all sides down in the room and do some conflict resolution yourself. i mean -- >> hallelujah. jon: be nice to get this thing solved. but as you say, they seem to be at loggerheads at this point. andrea, we have to say good-bye. thank you though. jenna: a quick check on the markets right now, take you to the stocks today. dow is slightly here. u.s. stocks are up after a ruling from germany's high court, this is really key here because basically cleared the way for germany to contribute to the eurozone bailout fund. you know all the problems that europe is having with debt. we're having problems of our

own but they're really having issues in germany as the most powerful economy over there. it is key that it participates in the bailout fund. that is clear they will contribute. meantime investors here at home are watching what is happening with the federal reserve over the next few days. we'll hear about whether or not the fed will announce a new round of stimulus efforts, that some argue will help boost the economy. others say maybe won't do so much. we'll watch for headlines and bring them to you as we get them. jon: overseas violence directed against america, setting the tone today in washington. the administration offering a firm response as it considers the next step. [gunfire] [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more?

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in fact she just left libya yesterday. joining us on the phone, ann marlow, a visiting fellow from the hudson institute and we'll get to your blog where you revealed questions and concerns about security in the country but you just talked to a friend on the ground there today. what's the reaction inside of libya to this knows of the ambassador being murdered? >> well, my friend who is a grand nephew of libya's former king idris, he is in benghazi. he actually just flew into benghazi from tripoli today and when he called me was at the courthouse square where the revolution had its symbolic beginnings and there is a demonstration right now what he estimated about 150 people carrying signs in both arabic and english attacking the people who killed chris stevens, saying that his help to the country deserved respect,

saying that he was a friend of libya and condemning al qaeda. now the interesting thing of course is that it is a very small demonstration. when i was in benghazi last spring, you used to be able to get hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands people for just about any cause whatsoever and what i, my own belief is that people are afraid to step up and be counted for causes like this. there are definitely people on the other side who are taking photographs of the people at the demonstrations. their faces will appear on tv. this is a very small country where a lot of people are identifiable just, on face-to-face basis. jenna: we hear this is, the group that was at the embassy, the peel that killed our own americans, that it was a small group but who are these people? what is the word about who is responsible for these attacks? >> i don't actually know and i don't think that's known to the public right now

either. these groups are very small. for example, there has been a presence of al qaeda in a city to the south of benghazi, i'm sorry to the east of benghazi and when i was in durga for three days this, i guess early september, everyone told me that the al qaeda people had been pushed out of the city into the mountains where they were living in caves. and they were estimating there were fewer than 300 al qaeda people living in those caves. but that is still a large number when you don't have a functioning police force. you know the problem is not that there's a lot of the bad guys. the problem is there is no security force. jenna: ann, real quick here, you said in your three weeks there in libya, as i mentioned you just got back from there, there are real complaints from the libyans about security. if you could, we just have about a minute. can you tell us a little bit more about that. >> people have been saying

this for a long time but now they're saying it louder and they're more exasperated. the country has an elected government now since july 11th. the parliament has been meeting since early august. what have they done about organizing the police and the army? the answer is very little. that's what people are upset about. as we know in the hierarchy of needs, very basic needs are for security and food and sus stance and -- sustenance and people's security needs are not being met. they feel any quarrel could generate into an armed standoff. jenna: wow! that brings us to the question how people say we get justice here, real question how justice is done inside a country struggling with a lot of things post-revolution. ann, nice to have you back on the program. thank you for your time and your insights today. >> thank you very much. take care. jon: of course those protests at the embassy in cairo and the consulate in

libya came on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. a lot of people are wondering if this happened in a vacuum or if there is more to it than that. interesting to note that mohammed al-zawahiri, the younger brother of the ayman al-zawahiri, the head of al qaeda was at the embassy protest in cairo. more in just a moment. [ mother ] you can't leave the table till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8... but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels

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jon: more on the protests that turned deadly at the u.s. consulate in libya and embassy in cairo. we were mentioning before the break that mohammed al-zawahiri was seen at that cairo protest. he is the younger brother of ayman al-zawahiri, the head of al qaeda, the guy who took over from usama bin laden after bin laden was

tracked down and killed by the nave seals last spring. al-zawahiri also caught on libyans to avenge the death of this man, al-libby. meaning from libya. he was the number two in al qaeda. he was killed june fourth in a drone strike in pakistan in the sort of lawless tribal region of waa sirries stan. he was ayman al-zawahiri's number two. and he is dead. his death just recently, in fact maybe only yesterday confirmed. i'm sorry, confirmed by ayman al-zawahiri. so all of this happening on september 11th leads one to wonder whether there was more to these protests a the consulate in benghazi and the egyptian embassy in cairo. than just a protest over a film about the prophet muhammad and a cheesy film at that. jenna: when we see embassies here at home we have image what embassy looks like.

sometimes a big building in the major city in the country. we want to show you what the embassy in cairo actually looks like. it is a compound built more like a fortress for lack of a better word. there are 150 americans there that work for the state department. you have several other americans that may or may not be state department employees also there. today an agency spokesperson couldn't confirm the number of total americans in egypt. we bring this up because that is why the embassy is so important. report from last year estimate about 90,000 americans were living and working throughout the country. the embassy is in what could be described as upscale, very quiet residential neighborhood called garden city. it is a few blocks away from tahrir square where all the massive protests were seen last year. this is something we're watching. what is the response from the military, from the government there and what's next really for the embassy in cairo? so many questions yet to be answered today and we'll continue to explore this. big news today out of both

egypt and libya. a lot of questions and hopefully more answers ahead. we'll be right back.